


Bliss

by RetroactiveCon



Series: Praying That It'll Be You [9]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:06:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21721939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RetroactiveCon/pseuds/RetroactiveCon
Summary: “Bliss. That’s what Codex called it.” Barry frowns, but it’s distant and dreamy as though he can’t quite remember why he wants to be upset. “She said it killed most people because it was too strong, but I had a chance of surviving because I’m fast.” He giggles and presses a hand to his mouth. “And I did! I’m not dead, just…really dizzy.”
Relationships: Barry Allen/Hartley Rathaway
Series: Praying That It'll Be You [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1562548
Comments: 6
Kudos: 115





	Bliss

Their first hint that something is wrong is an almighty _ker-THUMP_ that sounds, at least to Hartley, like a thunderclap. Some five or six seconds later, Barry staggers into the room, his cowl askew and his arms held unsteadily out from his sides. 

“Guys? I feel really…kinda…dizzy.” 

This is the only warning before he collapses. There’s a collective cry, and Joe, Cisco, Caitlin, and Hartley rush to his side. Caitlin kneels down beside his head and yanks his cowl off. To their relief, Barry turns his head toward her and gazes up at her with glassy eyes. 

“Wow,” he breathes. A bright, dazed smile spreads across his face, and he repeats, “Wow. I feel really good.”

Joe’s eyebrows ascend higher than Hartley has ever seen. “Uh, that’s not supposed to happen.” 

Cisco points down at Barry, whose head is rolling lazily side to side as though he’s tracking a swarm of invisible butterflies. “Is he high right now? I mean, is he _seriously_ high right now, after all that work we did to confirm that his metabolism doesn’t allow that?” 

Caitlin cups Barry’s cheeks to hold his head still. With a visible effort, he manages to focus on her long enough to pronounce, “I wish you smiled more. It makes me sad to see you sad.” 

“His pupils are evenly dilated, and his heart rate seems fine, but I need to take a blood sample to determine what’s causing this.” She coaxes him to sit up. He pushes himself into a sitting position, sways wildly, and almost topples over. Joe catches him. 

“Whoa, there, Barr.”

“Joe!” The look of pure, astonished delight on Barry’s face is a joy to behold. He truly is the human embodiment of sunshine, Hartley muses. “I thought you would be at the precinct. I caught…I caught Codex, like you wanted me to, but I got covered in this dust and things got a little weird. Is that why you’re here?”

Joe wraps an arm around Barry’s waist, helps him to his feet, and guides him to the cot in the adjoining room. “I haven’t seen you this out of it since you got your wisdom teeth out—remember?” 

Barry shakes his head. “Nope. Memory is hard, Joe, like _really_ hard. Like harder than usual hard, and you know how I am usually.” 

“Yep.” Joe helps him sit down on the edge of the cot. He perches contentedly, swinging his legs like a child and staring wide-eyed at everything. To Caitlin, he confides, “I don’t think he’s gonna be able to tell us much about what happened until…whatever the hell this is…wears off.”

Hartley lingers in the doorway, unsure he has the right to be underfoot in the same way as Joe or Cisco. Caitlin seems not to mind the crowd: she takes a slew of measurements before tightening a rubber tourniquet around Barry’s arm. He peers down at it uncomprehendingly. “What are you doing?”

“I need to take a little of your blood,” she says. “I want to find out what that dust is and how it affected you.”

“Oh.” Barry nods, his eyes never leaving her face. “Okay. I can be very still.”

True to his word, he remains motionless, even when the needle slides into his skin. Caitlin glances from the quickly-filling vial to his face. “Barry, did you feel anything?”

He glances at his arm. “No. Why, is that bad?” 

She rubs a hand over his shoulder and soothes, “No. It’s good. It means that whatever is in your system, it has the potential to create a painkiller that will work with your metabolism.” Because she turns away, Barry might not catch her muttered, “If it doesn’t turn out to be toxic.” Everyone else does. Joe takes half a step toward Barry as though he thinks he can protect him from the drug’s effects by sheer force of will. 

“Oh.” Barry nods placidly. “That would be nice. It would have been really nice to have a painkiller when Zoom broke my back, but I guess it was okay since I healed quick.” He beams at Caitlin as she withdraws the needle from his arm. “I have to always say it doesn’t hurt, you know? Because it’s not your fault I burn through painkillers so fast, and if you knew I was in pain you’d be sad. And I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I?” He glances from Caitlin to Joe, his brow furrowing in confusion. 

“No, it’s okay.” Caitlin’s lips purse. Cisco moves to put a hand on her shoulder, but she stops him with a glance. “I needed to know that. Thank you, Barry.”

“Oh, no no no, don’t be sad,” he pleads. “I’m the Flash, I’m not supposed to make people sad. I’m sorry.” 

Caitlin foregoes taping a square of gauze over the puncture site; given Barry’s rapid healing, it’s unnecessary. Instead, she scoops up the vial of blood and hastens over to her lab bench. “I don’t know how long it will take to analyze the compound,” she says, “but I think it’s safe to say it was created with Barry in mind. Otherwise, he would have burned through it by now.”

“How long do you think this’ll last?” Joe jerks his head at Barry, who’s examining his lightning bolt insignia with wide-eyed fascination. “’Cause there’s no way we can leave him alone like this.” 

“Until I know what hit him, I can’t say for sure.” Caitlin studies him pensively. “I would guess an hour or more, given that he seems to have been exposed just before he took Codex to the precinct.”

“I can watch him,” Hartley offers. 

At the sound of his voice, Barry glances up from his lightning bolt. The moment he sees Hartley, his face brightens with the same unselfconscious joy he’d shown upon seeing Joe. “Hartley! You’re here!”

“And you need to stay still,” Hartley laughs to forestall Barry’s inevitable attempts to get up. Obediently, Barry stays perched on the edge of the bed, but he quivers with excitement until Hartley steps to his side. 

“Hi.” Barry leans close to him. Hartley wraps an arm around his waist and draws him against his side. 

“Hi,” he parrots, amused. This earns him another of those broad, delighted grins. He can’t help smiling back and brushing his thumb along Barry’s cheekbone. Barry struggles to focus on him, the effort momentarily diminishing his stunning smile. 

“You’re so _pretty.”_ Off to Barry’s left, Joe looks torn between amusement and concern. Out of deference to him, Hartley presses a finger against Barry’s lips to forestall a kiss. “Oh, am I not allowed to say that right now? Are there people?” 

“Yes, Barry, there are people.” Hartley nudges his shoulder. “Do you want to lie down?” 

“Uh…” His brow furrows. “Maybe? Will you stay with me if I do?” 

Hartley directs the subtlest of beseeching glances at Joe, who rolls his eyes and nods. While he collects Cisco, Hartley eases Barry onto the cot. “Of course I’ll stay. I’m not going to leave you alone when you’re high.” 

“Hi,” Barry replies dreamily. Since they’re as alone as they’re going to get, Hartley feels comfortable kissing his brow. When he draws back, Barry is staring at him. “Wow. I get kisses?” 

“When you’re particularly adorable, yes, you do.” It’s a lie, and were Barry sober, he’d know it. Hartley has never needed a reason to kiss him, although he’ll happily take any excuse. 

Barry ducks his head but doesn’t quite manage to hide the shy smile spreading across his face. “Adorable? You’re so pretty and your eyes are amazing and you think I’m adorable?” 

Hartley entirely fails to keep from blushing. “Well, right now I think you’re high and don’t know what you’re saying, but yes, in general, ‘adorable’ is the word I would use.” 

Barry burrows his face into the pillow. “I have the cutest boyfriend in the world and he thinks I’m adorable,” he murmurs. Hartley doubts he knows he’s speaking, which only makes his obvious excitement more endearing. 

“This is going to break your brain,” he mutters, amused by the thought of Barry’s likely reaction. Before Barry registers what he’s said, he leans down and kisses him. It’s not a particularly deep kiss, but Hartley draws it out until both of them are breathless. When he pulls back, Barry leans up, chasing his lips. 

“Oh wow.” He flops back onto the pillow. One of his hands drifts up to his lips as though he thinks he’ll find a tangible change. Hartley bites back a smile. “You just…oh _wow.”_

“Good?” Hartley ascertains. Barry favors him with another of those stunning smiles. 

“I feel like sunlight,” he proclaims. His hand drifts up and caresses Hartley’s cheek. He’s clumsy and indelicate, but it’s clear from the reverence in his eyes that he wants to be gentle. It feels far too intimate for such a public setting. This kind of awe—if Barry still deems him worthy of it when he’s sober—is best saved for when they’re alone.

“Truly adorable.” It’s partly to make Barry blush and partly to keep him from noticing Hartley guiding his hand down. Both are successful, although Barry instinctively laces their fingers together. 

“Hartley?” He almost manages to focus on Hartley’s face. “Do I have to do something?”

“To get more kisses?” Hartley brushes his fingers through Barry’s hair. Barry’s eyes slip closed and he hums contentedly. 

“Hmm…no, like, Flash something. Are you distracting me from doing Flash things?” He turns his head away from Hartley’s touch. This is why everyone worries he’ll exhaust himself; even high on an unknown (but evidently pleasurable) drug, he can’t slow down. Hartley is pleased to be able to say, 

“No, Barry. You caught Codex, do you remember? Right now, you need to stay here while Caitlin runs some tests.” He glances over his shoulder to gauge her progress. Given that she’s muttering at her microscope, he suspects it may be some time before they get any answers. 

“Oh.” Appeased, Barry sinks back on the cot and permits Hartley to pet him. “Because I got drugged with Bliss?”

Hartley raises his eyebrows. “What?”

“Bliss. That’s what Codex called it.” Barry frowns, but it’s distant and dreamy as though he can’t quite remember why he wants to be upset. “She said it killed most people because it was too strong, but I had a chance of surviving because I’m fast.” He giggles and presses a hand to his mouth. “And I did! I’m not dead, just…really dizzy.” 

Hartley casts a glance over his shoulder. As he’d hoped, Caitlin meets his eye. Her expression makes it clear that she heard everything, although he’s unsure how much of it will help her. Barry props himself up on his elbows and calls, “Caitlin, hi!” 

“Hi, Barry.” She forsakes the microscope and approaches the cot. He scoots over to make room for her and almost scoots Hartley off the bed. Caitlin bites her lip. It’s a pleasant change to see her trying not to smile, but Barry must misread her expression, because he clutches at her hand. 

“Oh, no, Caitlin, I don’t want to make you sad again. You don’t deserve to be sad.”

“I’m not sad.” She takes his gloved hand in both of hers. If she was anyone else (Iris, for example, or even Cisco) Hartley might ask her to back off, but she’s so seldom willing to touch or be touched that he’s loath to disturb her. “I just need to know if you remember anything else.” 

“About Bliss?” Barry shakes his head. “Um…nope. Codex said it would last longer if I tried to fight it, but I had to! I had to get her and take her in and get back here and then I got here and everything is just so _nice_ that I stopped fighting.” 

Caitlin and Hartley exchange a worried glance. If all of that is true, as it very well might be, even the minute or two that Barry fought the drug could have prolonged its effects. 

“That’s good,” she murmurs. “Thank you for telling me, Barry.” 

Armed with new and concerning information, she returns to her equipment. Hartley nudges Barry. “You can scoot the other way. I want to sit down again.” 

Obediently, he scoots the other way. Hartley has to go up on tiptoe to perch on the edge of the bed, a fact for which Cisco would no doubt mercilessly mock him were he watching. Barry watches him raptly.

“Could you lay down with me?”

Hartley evaluates the sliver of cot not occupied by hazy speedster. “Possibly. This cot isn’t very big.” 

“You’re tiny, it’ll work.” Barry realizes what he’s said only after the words leave his mouth. “I’m so sorry, that was rude, I didn’t mean…”

Hartley kisses his brow. He falls immediately silent, his eyes wide and guilty. “You’re lucky you’re cute,” he says, swinging his legs onto the cot. True to Barry’s (somewhat thoughtless) suggestion, he fits as long as he presses against Barry’s side. This is no great hardship. 

“But _you’re_ cute,” Barry replies. “And tiny. My tiny cute boyfriend.” 

If not for his enhanced hearing, Hartley might have missed the hastily-stifled snicker from the other room. Judging by its timbre, it can only be Cisco. He considers shouting a threat, but he’s too warm and comfortable to shout. Instead, he presses a gentle kiss to Barry’s lips. “I hope you don’t remember any of this later.”

(He isn’t sure whether or not Cisco’s muttered “Won’t make you any less tiny” is intended for his ears. Given that Cisco is often the first to remember Hartley’s enhanced hearing, it almost certainly is.)

**Author's Note:**

> As far as Wikipedia told me, there isn't a Codex in Flash canon. I don't actually have a story with her in it, but she's not supposed to be a metahuman; she's a little bit like Barry's "The Chemist". She was mostly an excuse to get Barry high out of his mind.


End file.
